Politics and Public Health: The Incurable Disease of the Susan G. Komen Politics of Decay

The Susan G. Komen debacle has proved to be a perfect example of why politics and Public Health do not get along together. Planned Parenthood is a perpetual bogeyman for the Right Wing — but what most conservatives fail to recognize is that Planned Parenthood is beloved by the majority of the silent Middle Class because Planned Parenthood provide a necessary and urgently needed pathway to proper healthcare.

On Friday, day three of Susan G. Komen’s mission/PR clusterf*ck, the group announced it was reversing it’s decision to defund Planned Parenthood. Well, sort of. What Komen reversed was the claim that PPFA had been blackballed because it was under investigation. The question of PPFA getting further funding is left open until the next grant cycle. Can meet road.

This non-reversal reversal was just the latest example of terrible crisis communications that compounded what was a mind-blowingly stupid decision to begin with. How did Komen come to such a terrible decision? (Hint.) Once made, why did they let Planned Parenthood frame it? Why did they wait almost two full days after the story broke—meanwhile hemorrhaging advisory board members, chapters, corporate sponsors, donors, and enduring poignant disappointment at the hands of Andrea Mitchell and Judy Blume fer christ’s sake—before even attempting to control the damage?

Planned Parenthood — already punch drunk from being bandied about by the Right — did the correct thing and leapt ahead of the news cycle brewing against Komen:

“We are alarmed and saddened that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation appears to have succumbed to political pressure. Our greatest desire is for Komen to reconsider this policy and recommit to the partnership on which so many women count,” said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Me too, Gordon. There’s no way to heal what’s been done. The Republican plant in the organization who caused this mess resigned today — but it isn’t enough — and I believe this whole scenario was all part of her grander plan to destroy Planned Parenthood from the inside out so can run against the program in future elections as the candidate who “stood up” to Planned Parenthood.